1.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him

2.
Haakon IV of Norway
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Haakon Haakonsson, sometimes called Haakon the Old in contrast to his son with the same name, and known in modern regnal lists as Haakon IV, was the King of Norway from 1217 to 1263. His reign lasted for 46 years, longer than any Norwegian king since Harald I, Haakon was born into the troubled civil war era in Norway, but his reign eventually managed to put an end to the internal conflicts. At the start of his reign, during his minority, his later rival Earl Skule Bårdsson served as regent, as a king of the birkebeiner faction, Haakon defeated the uprising of the final bagler royal pretender, Sigurd Ribbung, in 1227. He put an end to the civil war era when he had Skule Bårdsson killed in 1240. Haakon thereafter formally appointed his own son as his co-regent, under Haakons rule, medieval Norway is considered to have reached its zenith or golden age. His reputation and formidable naval fleet allowed him to maintain friendships with both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, despite their conflict. He was at different points offered the Imperial Crown by the Pope, the Irish High Kingship by a delegation of Irish kings, and the command of the French crusader fleet by the French king. He amplified the influence of European culture in Norway by importing and translating contemporary European literature into Old Norse, the main source of information concerning Haakon is the Saga of Haakon Haakonsson which was written in the immediate years following his death. Commissioned by his son Magnus, it was written by the Icelandic writer, having come into conflict with the royal representative in Iceland, Sturla came to Norway in 1263 in an attempt to reconcile with Haakon. When he arrived, he learned that Haakon was in Scotland, while Magnus initially took an unfriendly attitude towards Sturla, his talents as a story-teller and skald eventually won him the favour of Magnus and his men. It is nonetheless written openly in support of the program of the House of Sverre. Haakon was born in Folkenborg to Inga of Varteig in the summer of 1204, Haakon Sverresson was dead by the time his son Haakon was born, but Ingas claim was supported by several of Haakon Sverressons followers. Haakon was born in bagler-controlled territory, and his mothers claim placed them in a dangerous position. While the bagler started hunting Haakon, a group of birkebeiner warriors fled with the child in the winter of 1205/06, heading for King Inge Bårdson, the new birkebeiner king in Nidaros. As the party was struck by a blizzard, two of the best birkebeiner skiers, Torstein Skevla and Skjervald Skrukka, carried on with the child over the mountain from Lillehammer to Østerdalen. They eventually managed to bring Haakon to safety with King Inge, in the saga, Haakon is described as bright and witty, and as being small for his age. When he was three years old, Haakon was captured by the bagler but refused to call the bagler king Philip Simonsson his lord and he subsequently identified his attorney as God and Saint Olaf. Haakon was notably the first Norwegian king to receive education at a school

3.
Magnus VI of Norway
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Magnus Haakonsson was King of Norway from 1263 to 1280. One of his greatest achievements was his modernisation and nationalisation of the Norwegian law-code and he was the first Norwegian monarch known to personally have used an ordinal number, although originally counting himself as IV. He was the youngest son of King Håkon Håkonsson and his wife Margaret Skuladotter and he was born in Tunsberg and was baptised in May 1238. He spent most of his upbringing in Bergen, in 1257 his older brother Håkon died, leaving Magnus the heir-apparent to the kingdom. His father gave him the title of king the same year, the struggle to claim Ingeborgs inheritance from her murdered father later involved Norway in intermittent conflicts with Denmark for decades to come. Magnus and Ingeborg were crowned directly after their marriage, and Magnus was given Ryfylke for his personal upkeep, on 16 December 1263 King Håkon died while fighting the Scottish king over the Hebrides, and Magnus became the ruler of Norway. Magnus rule brought about a change from the aggressive foreign policy of his father. In 1269 the Treaty of Winchester cemented good relations with the English king Henry III, Magnus also seems to have had good relations with the Swedish King Valdemar Birgersson, and in the 1260s, the border with Sweden was officially defined for the first time. When Valdemar was deposed by his two brothers and fled to Norway in 1275, this stirred Magnus into gathering a leidang-fleet for the first, in internal politics, Magnus carried out a great effort to modernise the law-code, which gave him his epithet law-mender. These were adopted at the Things in the years 1274 and 1276, in 1274 he promulgated the new national law, a unified code of laws to apply for the whole country, including the Faroe Islands and Shetland. This replaced the different regional laws which had existed before and it was supplemented by a new municipal law in 1276, and a slightly modified version was also drawn up for Iceland. A unified code of laws for a country was at this time something quite new. His code introduced the concept that crime is an offense against the rather than against the individual. It increased the power of the king, making the throne the source of justice. The municipal law gave the cities increased freedom from rural control, a specific section fixed the law of succession to the throne, in accordance with the arrangements laid down by King Håkon Håkonsson in 1260. The royal succession was an important and prickly matter, the last of the wars, fought for decades over disputed successions to the throne. In 1273 Magnus gave his eldest son, five-year-old Eirik, the name of king, the Tønsberg Concord signed in 1277 between King Magnus and Jon Raude, Archbishop of Nidaros, confirmed certain privileges of the clergy, the freedom of episcopal elections and similar matters. The church preserved considerable independence in matters, but gave up its old claim that the Norwegian kingdom was a fief under the ultimate authority of the Catholic Church

4.
Norsk biografisk leksikon
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Norsk biografisk leksikon is the largest Norwegian biographical encyclopedia. The first edition was issued between 1921 and 1983, including 19 volumes and 5,100 articles and it was published by Aschehoug with economic support from the state. Kunnskapsforlaget bought the rights to NBL1 from Aschehoug in 1995, the project had economic support from the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Ministry of Culture, and the second edition was launched in the years 1999-2005, including 10 volumes and ca.5,700 articles. In 2006 the work for an edition of NBL2 began. In 2009 an Internet edition, with access, was released by Kunnskapsforlaget together with the general-purpose Store norske leksikon. The electronic edition features additional biographies, and updates about dates of death of biographees, apart from that, the vast body of text is unaltered from the printed version. This is a list of volumes in the edition of Norsk biografisk leksikon. Published 2005 Volume 10, Wilberg–Aavik, plus extra material, published 2005 This is a list of volumes in the first edition of Norsk biografisk leksikon. Published 1923 Volume 2, Bjørnstad–Christian Frederik, published 1925 Volume 3, Christiansen–Eyvind Urarhorn. Published 1931 Volume 6, Helland–Lars Jensen, published 1934 Volume 7, Lars O. Jensen–Krefting. Published 1940 Volume 10, Narve–Harald C, published 1949 Volume 11, Oscar Pedersen–Ross. Published 1966 Volume 16, Sørensen–Alf Torp, published 1969 Volume 17, Eivind Torp–Vidnes. Published 1975 Volume 18, Vig–Henrik Wergeland, published 1977 Volume 19, N. Wergeland–Øyen

5.
Sovereign state
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A sovereign state is, in international law, a nonphysical juridical entity that is represented by one centralized government that has sovereignty over a geographic area. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined territory, one government, and it is also normally understood that a sovereign state is neither dependent on nor subjected to any other power or state. The existence or disappearance of a state is a question of fact, States came into existence as people gradually transferred their allegiance from an individual sovereign to an intangible but territorial political entity, of the state. States are but one of political orders that emerged from feudal Europe, others being city states, leagues. Westphalian sovereignty is the concept of sovereignty based on territoriality. It is a system of states, multinational corporations. Sovereignty is a term that is frequently misused and that position was reflected and constituted in the notion that their sovereignty was either completely lacking, or at least of an inferior character when compared to that of civilised people. Lassa Oppenheim said There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is a fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon. In the opinion of H. V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law, but a question that does not arise at all. The right of nations to determine their own status and exercise permanent sovereignty within the limits of their territorial jurisdictions is widely recognized. The Westphalian model of sovereignty has increasingly come under fire from the non-west as a system imposed solely by Western Colonialism. What this model did was make religion a subordinate to politics and this system does not fit in the Islamic world because concepts such as separation of church and state and individual conscience are not recognised in the Islamic religion as social systems. Nation denotes a people who are believed to or deemed to share common customs, religion, language, origins, however, the adjectives national and international are frequently used to refer to matters pertaining to what are strictly sovereign states, as in national capital, international law. State refers to the set of governing and supportive institutions that have sovereignty over a definite territory, State recognition signifies the decision of a sovereign state to treat another entity as also being a sovereign state. Recognition can be expressed or implied and is usually retroactive in its effects. It does not necessarily signify a desire to establish or maintain diplomatic relations, There is no definition that is binding on all the members of the community of nations on the criteria for statehood. In actual practice, the criteria are mainly political, not legal, in international law, however, there are several theories of when a state should be recognised as sovereign

6.
Aragon
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Aragon is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces, Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel, the current Statute of Autonomy declares Aragon a nationality of Spain. Aragons northern province of Huesca borders France and is positioned in the middle of the Pyrenees, within Spain, the community is flanked by Catalonia to the east, Valencia and Castile–La Mancha to the south, and Castile and León, La Rioja, and Navarre to the west. Aragon is home to many rivers—most notably, the river Ebro, Spains largest river in volume and it is also home to the Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees. As of 2015, the population of Aragon was 1,317,847, with more than half of it living in Zaragoza. As of 2015, half of Aragons population,50. 45%, Huesca is the only other city in the region with a population greater than 50,000. The majority of Aragonese citizens,71. 8%, live in the province of Zaragoza,17. 1% in Huesca and 11. 1% in Teruel, the population density of the region is the second lowest in Spain, only 26, 8/km2, after Castilla La Mancha. Only four cities have more than 20,000 inhabitants, Zaragoza 700,000, Huesca 50,000, Teruel 35,000 and Calatayud 20,000. Spanish is the language in most of Aragon, and it is the only official language, understood. The strip-shaped Catalan-speaking area in Aragon is often called La Franja, with such a low population density large areas of Aragon remain wild and relatively untouched. It is a land of natural contrasts, both in climate and geologically, from the green valleys and snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees to the dry plains. Aragons Pyrenees include splendid and varied mountain landscapes with soaring peaks, deep canyons, dense forests and its rugged peaks include the Aneto, the highest in the range, the misty Monte Perdido, Perdiguero, Cotiella and many others. The park is one of the last sanctuaries of birds of prey in the range. Many beautiful mountain butterflies and flowers can be seen in the summer, the principal valleys in the mountains include those of Hecho, Canfranc, Tena, Benasque and others. The green valleys hide pretty villages with nice Romanesque churches and typical Pyrenean houses with flowers on the balconies, the oldest Romanesque cathedral in Spain is located in the medieval town of Jaca in the very northern part of Huesca Province. In the Pyrenean foothills, or pre-Pyrenees, the Mallos de Riglos are a natural rock formation. Ancient castles nestle on lonely hills, the most famous being the magnificent Loarre Castle, further south, the Ebro valley, irrigated by the river Ebro, is a rich and fertile agricultural area covered with vast fields of wheat, barley and other fruit and vegetable crops. Many beautiful and little-known settlements, castles and Roman ruins dot the landscape here, some of the most notable towns here include Calatayud, Daroca, Sos del Rey Catolico, Caspe and others

7.
History of Bulgaria
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The history of Bulgaria can be traced from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The earliest evidence of human occupation discovered on what is today Bulgaria date from at least 1.4 million years ago, around 5000 BC, a sophisticated civilization already existed and produced some of the first pottery and jewelry in the world. After 3000 BC, the Thracians appeared on the Balkan peninsula, in the late 6th century BC, most of what is nowadays Bulgaria came under the Persian Empire. This mixture of ancient peoples was assimilated by the Slavs, who settled on the peninsula after 500 AD. Meanwhile, in 632 the Bulgars formed an independent state north of the Black sea that became known as Great Bulgaria under the leadership of Kubrat, pressure from the Khazars led to the disintegration of Great Bulgaria in the second half of the 7th century. A peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of a permanent Bulgarian capital at Pliska south of the Danube mark the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire, the new state brought together Thracian remnants and Slavs under Bulgar rule, and a slow process of mutual assimilation began. In the following centuries Bulgaria established itself as an empire, dominating the Balkans through its aggressive military traditions. In the 11th century, the First Bulgarian Empire collapsed under Rus and Byzantine attacks, then, a major uprising led by two brothers - Asen and Peter of the Asen dynasty, restored the Bulgarian state to form the Second Bulgarian Empire. A peasant rebellion, one of the few such in history. His short reign was essential in recovering - at least partially - the integrity of the Bulgarian state, a relatively thriving period followed after 1300, but ended in 1371, when factional divisions caused Bulgaria to split into three small Tsardoms. By 1396, they were subjugated by the Ottoman Empire, the Turks eliminated the Bulgarian system of nobility and ruling clergy, and Bulgaria remained an integral Turkish territory for the next 500 years. With the decline of the Ottoman Empire after 1700, signs of revival started to emerge, the Bulgarian nobility had vanished, leaving an egalitarian peasant society with a small but growing urban middle class. The initial Treaty of San Stefano was rejected by the Western Great Powers, and the following Treaty of Berlin limited Bulgarias territories to Moesia and the region of Sofia. This left many ethnic Bulgarians out of the borders of the new state, after World War II, Bulgaria became a Communist state, dominated by Todor Zhivkov for a period of 35 years. Bulgarias economic advancement during the era came to an end in the 1980s, Bulgaria joined NATO in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. The earliest human remains found in Bulgaria have been excavated in the Kozarnika cave and this cave probably keeps the earliest evidence of human symbolic behaviour ever found. Human remains found in Bacho Kiro cave that are 44,000 years old consist of a pair of fragmented human jaws, the earliest dwellings in Bulgaria - the Stara Zagora Neolithic dwellings - date from 6,000 BC and are amongst the oldest man-made structures yet discovered. By the end of the neolithic, the Hamangia and Vinča culture developed on what is today Bulgaria, southern Romania, the earliest known town in Europe, Solnitsata, was located in present-day Bulgaria

8.
History of Denmark
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The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic area and the people living there - the Danes -, as early as 500 AD. These early documents include the writings of Jordanes and Procopius, with the Christianization of the Danes c.960 AD, it is clear that there existed a kingship in Scandinavia, controlling the current Danish territory roughly speaking. Queen Margrethe II can trace her back to the Viking kings Gorm the Old and Harald Bluetooth from this time. The area we now know as Denmark, has a rich prehistory, having been populated by prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years. Denmark was long in disputes with Sweden over control of Skånelandene and with Germany over control of Schleswig, eventually, Denmark lost these conflicts and ended up ceding first Skåneland to Sweden and later Schleswig-Holstein to the German Empire. After the eventual cession of Norway in 1814, Denmark retained control of the old Norwegian colonies of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. During the 20th century, Iceland gained independence, Greenland and the Faroese became integral parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and North Schleswig reunited with Denmark in 1920 after a referendum. During World War II, Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany, in the aftermaths of World War II, and with the emergence of the subsequent Cold War, Denmark was quick to join the military alliance of NATO as a founding member in 1949. The Scandinavian region has a rich prehistory, having been populated by prehistoric cultures and people for about 12,000 years. During the ice age, all of Scandinavia was covered by glaciers most of the time, when the ice began retreating, the barren tundras were soon inhabited by reindeer and elk and Ahrenburg and Swiderian hunters from the south followed them here to hunt occasionally. The geography then was very different from what we know today, as the climate warmed up, forceful rivers of meltwater started to flow and shape the virgin lands, and a more stable flora and fauna gradually began emerging in Scandinavia and Denmark in particular. The first human settlers to inhabit Denmark and Scandinavia permanently was the Maglemosian people, residing in seasonal camps and it was not until around 6,000 BC that the geography of Denmark as we know it today had been shaped approximately. Denmark has some unique conditions for preservation of artifacts, providing a rich. The Weichsel glaciation covered all of Denmark most of the time and it ended around 13,000 years ago allowing humans to move back into the previously ice-covered territories and establish permanent habitation. During the first post-glacial millennia the landscape changed from tundra to light forest. Early pre-historic cultures uncovered in modern Denmark include the Maglemosian Culture, the Kongemose culture, the Ertebølle culture, and the Funnelbeaker culture. The Koelbjerg Man is the oldest known bog body in the world and also the oldest set of bones found in Denmark. With a continuing rise in temperature the oak, elm and hazel arrived in Denmark around 7,000 BC, now boar, red deer, and roe deer also began to abound

9.
History of France
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The first written records for the history of France appear in the Iron Age. The Gauls, the largest and best attested group, were Celtic people speaking what is known as the Gaulish language, over the course of the 1st millennium BC the Greeks, Romans and Carthaginians established colonies on the Mediterranean coast and the offshore islands. Afterwards a Gallo-Roman culture emerged and Gaul was increasingly integrated into the Roman Empire, in the later stages of the Roman Empire, Gaul was subject to barbarian raids and migration, most importantly by the Germanic Franks. The Frankish king Clovis I united most of Gaul under his rule in the late 5th century, Frankish power reached its fullest extent under Charlemagne. The war formally began in 1337 following Philip VIs attempt to seize the Duchy of Aquitaine from its holder, Edward III of England. Despite early Plantagenet victories, including the capture and ransom of John II of France, among the notable figures of the war was Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl who led French forces against the English, establishing herself as a national heroine. The war ended with a Valois victory in 1453, victory in the Hundred Years War had the effect of strengthening French nationalism and vastly increasing the power and reach of the French monarchy. During the period known as the Ancien Régime, France transformed into an absolute monarchy. During the next centuries, France experienced the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation, Henry, King of Navarre, scion of the Bourbon family, would be victorious in the conflict and establish the French Bourbon dynasty. A burgeoning worldwide colonial empire was established in the 16th century, French political power reached a zenith under the rule of Louis XIV, The Sun King, builder of Versailles Palace. In the late 18th century the monarchy and associated institutions were overthrown in the French Revolution, the country was governed for a period as a Republic, until the French Empire was declared by Napoleon Bonaparte. France was one of the Triple Entente powers in World War I, fighting alongside the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, the United States and smaller allies against Germany and the Central Powers. France was one of the Allied Powers in World War II, the Third Republic was dismantled, and most of the country was controlled directly by Germany while the south was controlled until 1942 by the collaborationist Vichy government. Living conditions were harsh as Germany drained away food and manpower, Charles de Gaulle led the Free France movement that one-by-one took over the colonial empire, and coordinated the wartime Resistance. Following liberation in summer 1944, a Fourth Republic was established, France slowly recovered economically, and enjoyed a baby boom that reversed its very low fertility rate. Long wars in Indochina and Algeria drained French resources and ended in political defeat, in the wake of the Algerian Crisis of 1958, Charles de Gaulle set up the French Fifth Republic. Into the 1960s decolonization saw most of the French colonial empire become independent, while smaller parts were incorporated into the French state as overseas departments, since World War II France has been a permanent member in the UN Security Council and NATO. It played a role in the unification process after 1945 that led to the European Union

10.
History of Georgia (country)
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The country of Georgia was first unified as a single kingdom in 1008 AD, arising from the ancient predecessor states of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished and reached its Golden Age during the 10th to 13th centuries under King David IV, lasting for several centuries, the kingdom fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by the 1340s. Throughout the early period, Georgia fell into decline as it clashed against various hostile empires, including Ottoman Empire. The kingdoms geopolitical situation further worsened after the Fall of Constantinople, as a result of these processes, by the end of the 15th century Georgia turned into an isolated, Christian enclave, surrounded by hostile Turco-Iranic neighbors with which it had little in common. Renewed incursions beginning in 1386 led to the collapse of the kingdom by 1493. Georgia’s geopolitical landscape began to shift in 1783, when the struggling Eastern Georgia forged an alliance with the Russian Empire and this led to the gradual, forced annexation of Georgia by Russia starting in 1801. Present-day Georgia has been independent since the Soviet collapse in 1991, post-communist Georgia was almost immediately beset by Russian-backed separatist rebellions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It also suffered from civil unrest and economic crisis for most of the 1990s and this lasted until the Rose Revolution of 2003, when Georgia pursued a strongly pro-Western foreign policy, introducing major economic and democratic reforms. Notwithstanding these crises and the change of political forces in the country, as a developing economy, Georgia made significant changes, moving from a near-failed state in 2003 to a relatively well-functioning market economy in 2014. In 2014, Georgia joined the European Unions Free Trade Area, evidence for the earliest occupation of the territory of present-day Georgia goes back to c.1.8 million years ago, as evident from the excavations of Dmanisi in the south-eastern part of the country. This is the oldest evidence of humans in Europe, later prehistoric remains are known from numerous cave and open-air sites in Georgia. Numerous excavations in tell settlements of the Shulaveri-Shomu type have been conducted since the 1960s, the earliest evidence of wine to date has been found in Georgia, where 8000-year old wine jars were uncovered. Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, associated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, from the beginning of the 4th millennium, metals became used to larger extend in East Georgia and in the whole Transcaucasian region. These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a feature being the central pier. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings, in the Chalcolithic period of the fourth and third millennia BC, Georgia and eastern Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium BC. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni, together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture. Diauehi, a union of early-Georgians, first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. Between 2100 and 750 BC, the area survived the invasions by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, at the same period, the ethnic unity of Proto-Kartvelians broke up into several branches, among them Svans, Zans/Chans and East-Kartvelians

11.
History of Germany
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Following the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Franks conquered the other West Germanic tribes. When the Frankish Empire was divided among Charlemagnes heirs in 843, in 962, Otto I became the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the medieval German state. In the High Middle Ages, the dukes, princes. Martin Luther led the Protestant Reformation against the Catholic Church after 1517, as the states became Protestant. The two parts of the Holy Roman Empire clashed in the Thirty Years War, which was ruinous to the twenty million civilians living in both states. The Thirty Years War brought tremendous destruction to Germany, more than 1/4 of the population,1648 marked the effective end of the Holy Roman Empire and the beginning of the modern nation-state system, with Germany divided into numerous independent states, such as Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony. After the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, feudalism fell away, the Industrial Revolution modernized the German economy, led to the rapid growth of cities and to the emergence of the Socialist movement in Germany. Prussia, with its capital Berlin, grew in power, German universities became world-class centers for science and the humanities, while music and the arts flourished. The new Reichstag, a parliament, had only a limited role in the imperial government. Germany joined the other powers in colonial expansion in Africa and the Pacific, Germany was the dominant power on the continent. By 1900, its rapidly expanding industrial economy passed Britains, allowing a naval race, Germany led the Central Powers in World War I against France, Great Britain, Russia and the United States. Defeated and partly occupied, Germany was forced to pay war reparations by the Treaty of Versailles and was stripped of its colonies as well as Polish areas and Alsace-Lorraine. The German Revolution of 1918–19 deposed the emperor and the kings and princes, leading to the establishment of the Weimar Republic. In the early 1930s, the worldwide Great Depression hit Germany hard, as unemployment soared, in 1933, the Nazi party under Adolf Hitler came to power and quickly established a totalitarian regime. Political opponents were killed or imprisoned, after forming a pact with the Soviet Union in 1939, Hitler and Stalin divided Eastern Europe. After a Phoney War in spring 1940 the German blitzkrieg swept Scandinavia, only the British Commonwealth and Empire stood opposed, along with Greece. Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, in 1942, the German invasion of the Soviet Union faltered, and after the United States had entered the war, Britain became the base for massive Anglo-American bombings of German cities. Germany fought the war on multiple fronts through 1942–1944, however following the Allied invasion of Normandy, millions of ethnic Germans fled from Communist areas into West Germany, which experienced rapid economic expansion, and became the dominant economy in Western Europe

12.
History of Hungary
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For the history of the area before this period, see Pannonian basin before Hungary. The oldest archaeological site in Hungary is Vértesszőlős, where palaeolithic Oldowan pebble tools, the Roman Empire conquered territory west of the Danube River between 35 and 9 BC. From 9 BC to the end of the 4th century AD, Pannonia, among the first to arrive were the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila the Hun in 435 AD. Attila was regarded in past centuries as a ruler of the Hungarians. They entered what is now Hungary in the 7th century AD, the Avar Khaganate was weakened by constant wars and outside pressure, and the Franks under Charlemagne managed to defeat the Avars to end their 250-year rule. Árpád was the leader who unified the Magyar tribes via the Covenant of Blood and he led the new nation to the Carpathian Basin in the 9th century. Between 895 and 902 the whole area of the Carpathian Basin was conquered by the Hungarians, an early Hungarian state was formed in this territory in 895. The military power of the nation allowed the Hungarians to conduct successful fierce campaigns, Prince Géza of the Árpád dynasty, who ruled only part of the united territory, was the nominal overlord of all seven Magyar tribes. He aimed to integrate Hungary into Christian Western Europe by rebuilding the state according to the Western political and social models, Géza established a dynasty by naming his son Vajk as his successor. This decision was contrary to the dominant tradition of the time to have the eldest surviving member of the ruling family succeed the incumbent. By ancestral right, Prince Koppány, the oldest member of the dynasty, should have claimed the throne, Koppány did not relinquish his ancestral rights without a fight. After Gézas death in 997, Koppány took up arms, the rebels claimed to represent the old political order, ancient human rights, tribal independence and pagan belief. Stephen won a victory over his uncle Koppány and had him executed. Hungary was recognized as a Catholic Apostolic Kingdom under Saint Stephen I, Stephen was the son of Géza and thus a descendant of Árpád. Stephen was crowned with the Holy Crown of Hungary in the first day of 1000 AD in the city of Esztergom. Pope Sylvester II conferred on him the right to have the cross carried before him, with full authority over bishoprics. By 1006, Stephen had solidified his power by eliminating all rivals who either wanted to follow the old traditions or wanted an alliance with the Eastern Christian Byzantine Empire. Then he initiated sweeping reforms to convert Hungary into a feudal state, complete with forced Christianization

13.
History of Iceland
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The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and their slaves from the east, particularly Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest of Western Europe had been settled, recorded settlement has conventionally been dated back to 874, although archaeological evidence indicates Gaelic monks had settled Iceland before that date. The land was settled quickly, mainly by Norwegians who may have been fleeing conflict or seeking new land to farm, by 930, the chieftains had established a form of governance, the Althing, making it one of the worlds oldest parliaments. Towards the end of the tenth century Christianity came to Iceland through the influence of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason. During this time Iceland remained independent, a known as the Old Commonwealth. Norway, in turn, was united with Sweden and then Denmark, eventually all of the Nordic states were united in one alliance, the Kalmar Union, but on its dissolution, Iceland fell under Danish rule. The subsequent strict Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly in the 17th and 18th centuries was very detrimental to the economy, Icelands subsequent poverty was aggravated by severe natural disasters like the Móðuharðindin or Mist Hardships. During this time the population declined, Iceland remained part of Denmark, but in keeping with the rise of nationalism around Europe in the nineteenth century an independence movement emerged. The Althing, which had suspended in 1799, was restored in 1844. However Iceland shared the Danish Monarchy until World War II, although Iceland was neutral in the Second World War, the United Kingdom peacefully occupied it in 1940 to forestall a Nazi occupation, after Denmark itself was overrun by the German Wehrmacht. Because of the strategic position in the North Atlantic, the allies occupied the island until the end of the war. In 1944, and declared itself an independent nation. Following the Second World War Iceland was a member of both the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Its economy grew rapidly due to fishing, although this was marred by conflicts with other nations like the Cod Wars. Following rapid financial growth, the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis occurred, Iceland continues to remain outside the European Union. Icelands history has also marked by a number of natural disasters. Iceland is also a young country in the geological sense. The oldest stone specimens found in Iceland date back to ca.16 million years ago, in geological terms, Iceland is a young island

14.
Navarre
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The first documented use of a name resembling Navarra, Nafarroa, or Naparroa is a reference to navarros, in Eginhards early 9th Century chronicle of the feats of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Other Royal Frankish Annals feature nabarros, there are two proposed etymologies for the name. Basque nabar, brownish, multicolor (i. e. in contrast to the mountainous lands north of the original County of Navarre. Basque naba, valley, plain + Basque herri, the linguist Joan Coromines considers naba to be linguistically part of a wider Vasconic or Aquitanian language substrate, rather than Basque per se. During the Roman Empire, the Vascones, a tribe who populated the southern slopes of the Pyrenees. In the mountainous north, the Vascones escaped large-scale Roman settlement, not so the flatter areas to the south, which were amenable to large-scale Roman farming—vineyards, olives, and wheat crops. Neither the Visigoths nor the Franks ever completely subjugated the area, the Vascones included neighbouring tribes as of the 7th century. In AD778, the Basques defeated a Frankish army at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and that kingdom reached its zenith during the reign of King Sancho III, comprising most of the Christian realms to the south of the Pyrenees, and even a short overlordship of Gascony. When Sancho III died in 1035, the Kingdom of Navarre was divided between his sons and it never fully recovered its political power, while its commercial importance increased as traders and pilgrims poured into the kingdom throughout the Way of Saint James. In 1200, Navarre lost the key western Basque districts to Alphonse VIII of Castile, Navarre then contributed with a small but symbolic force of 200 knights to the decisive Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 against the Almohads. The native line of kings came to an end in 1234, however, the Navarrese kept most of their strong laws and institutions. To the south of the Pyrenees, Navarre was annexed to the Crown of Castile, but keeping a separate status. A Chartered Government was established, and the managed to keep home rule. After the 1839 Convention of Bergara, a version of home rule was passed in 1839. The relocation of customs from the Ebro river to the Pyrenees in 1841 prompted the collapse of Navarre’s customary cross-Pyrenean trade, amid instability in Spain, Carlists took over in Navarre and the rest of the Basque provinces. The end of the Third Carlist War saw a wave of Spanish centralization directly affecting Navarre. In 1893-1894 the Gamazada popular uprising took place centred in Pamplona against Madrids governmental decisions breaching the 1841 chartered provisions. Except for a faction, all parties in Navarre agreed on the need for a new political framework based on home rule within the Laurak Bat

15.
Papal States
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The Papal States, officially the State of the Church, were territories in the Italian Peninsula under the sovereign direct rule of the pope, from the 8th century until 1870. They were among the states of Italy from roughly the 8th century until the Italian Peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. At their zenith, they covered most of the modern Italian regions of Lazio, Marche, Umbria and Romagna and these holdings were considered to be a manifestation of the temporal power of the pope, as opposed to his ecclesiastical primacy. By 1861, much of the Papal States territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy, only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Popes temporal control. In 1870, the pope lost Lazio and Rome and had no physical territory at all, Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini ended the crisis between unified Italy and the Vatican by signing the Lateran Treaty, granting the Vatican City State sovereignty. The Papal States were also known as the Papal State, the territories were also referred to variously as the State of the Church, the Pontifical States, the Ecclesiastical States, or the Roman States. For its first 300 years the Catholic Church was persecuted and unrecognized and this system began to change during the reign of the emperor Constantine I, who made Christianity legal within the Roman Empire, and restoring to it any properties that had been confiscated. The Lateran Palace was the first significant new donation to the Church, other donations followed, primarily in mainland Italy but also in the provinces of the Roman Empire. But the Church held all of these lands as a private landowner, the seeds of the Papal States as a sovereign political entity were planted in the 6th century. Beginning In 535, the Byzantine Empire, under emperor Justinian I, launched a reconquest of Italy that took decades and devastated Italys political, just as these wars wound down, the Lombards entered the peninsula from the north and conquered much of the countryside. While the popes remained Byzantine subjects, in practice the Duchy of Rome, nevertheless, the pope and the exarch still worked together to control the rising power of the Lombards in Italy. As Byzantine power weakened, though, the took a ever larger role in defending Rome from the Lombards. In practice, the papal efforts served to focus Lombard aggrandizement on the exarch, a climactic moment in the founding of the Papal States was the agreement over boundaries embodied in the Lombard king Liutprands Donation of Sutri to Pope Gregory II. When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks. In 751, Pope Zachary had Pepin the Younger crowned king in place of the powerless Merovingian figurehead king Childeric III, zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, later granted Pepin the title Patrician of the Romans. Pepin led a Frankish army into Italy in 754 and 756, Pepin defeated the Lombards – taking control of northern Italy – and made a gift of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope. The cooperation between the papacy and the Carolingian dynasty climaxed in 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, the precise nature of the relationship between the popes and emperors – and between the Papal States and the Empire – is disputed. Events in the 9th century postponed the conflict, the Holy Roman Empire in its Frankish form collapsed as it was subdivided among Charlemagnes grandchildren

16.
History of Poland
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The history of Poland originates in the migrations of Slavs who established permanent settlements in the Polish lands during the Early Middle Ages. The first ruling dynasty, the Piasts, emerged by the 10th century AD, Duke Mieszko I is considered the de facto creator of the Polish state and is widely recognized for the widespread adoption of Western Christianity that followed his baptism in 966. The duchy of Poland that Mieszko ruled was formally reconstituted as a kingdom in 1025 by his son Bolesław I Chrobry. In its early phases, the Commonwealth was able to sustain the levels of prosperity achieved during the Jagiellonian period through its development of a sophisticated noble democracy. From the mid-17th century, however, the state entered a period of decline caused by devastating wars. From 1795 until 1918, no truly independent Polish state existed, the opportunity to regain independence only materialized after World War I, when the three partitioning imperial powers were fatally weakened in the wake of war and revolution. Millions of Polish citizens perished in the course of the Nazi occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1945 as Germany classified ethnic Poles and other Slavs, Jews and Romani as subhuman. This process resulted in the creation of the modern Polish state, members of the Homo genus have lived in north Central Europe for thousands of years since the last periods of prehistoric glaciation. The Neolithic period ushered in the Linear Pottery culture, whose founders migrated from the Danube River area beginning about 5,500 BC and this culture was distinguished by the establishment of the first settled agricultural communities in modern Polish territory. Later, between about 4,400 and 2,000 BC, the native post-Mesolithic populations would also adopt, Polands Early Bronze Age began around 2300–2400 BC, whereas its Iron Age commenced c. One of the cultures that have been uncovered, the Lusatian culture, spanned the Bronze and Iron Ages. Around 400 BC, Poland was settled by Celts of the La Tène culture and they were soon followed by emerging cultures with a strong Germanic component, influenced first by the Celts and then by the Roman Empire. The Germanic peoples migrated out of the area by about 500 AD during the great Migration Period of the European Dark Ages, wooded regions to the north and east were settled by Balts. According to mainstream archaeological research, Slavs have resided in modern Polish territories for over 1500 years, in the 9th and 10th centuries, these tribes gave rise to developed regions along the upper Vistula, the coast of the Baltic Sea and in Greater Poland. This latest tribal undertaking resulted in the formation of a political structure in the 10th century that became the state of Poland. Poland was established as a state under the Piast dynasty. Historical records of an official Polish state begin with Duke Mieszko I in the half of the 10th century. This event has become known as the baptism of Poland, Mieszko completed a unification of the West Slavic tribal lands that was fundamental to the new countrys existence

17.
History of Portugal
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The history of Portugal dates back to the Early Middle Ages. The country was weakened by the destruction of much of its capital city in an earthquake in 1755, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars. From the middle of the 19th century to the late 1950s, in 1910, there was a revolution that deposed the monarchy. Amid corruption, repression of the church, and the bankruptcy of the state. The new government instituted sweeping reforms and granted independence to all of Portugals African colonies in 1975. Portugal is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It entered the European Economic Community in 1986, the word Portugal derives from the Roman-Celtic place name Portus Cale. Around 200 BC, the Romans took the Iberian Peninsula from the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, during the Dark Ages, the region around Portus Cale became known by the Suebi and Visigoths as Portucale. By the 11th and 12th centuries, Portugale was already referred to as Portugal, the precise etymology of the name Cale is somewhat mysterious, although the most plausible origin points to Cale being a Celtic name, like many others found in the region. Indeed the word cale or cala meant port, an inlet or harbour, furthermore todays Gaelic word for harbour is indeed Cala. Some argue it is the stem of Gallaecia, again of Celtic derivation, another theory claims it derives from the word Caladunum. In any case, the particle Portu in the word Portucale was used as the basis of Porto, and port became the English name of the wine actually produced further inland, in the Upper Douro Valley region, but exported through Porto. The name Cale is today reflected in Gaia, a city on the bank of the river. The region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals, and then by Homo sapiens, Neanderthals probably arrived 100,000 years BP. A Neanderthal tooth found at Nova da Columbiera cave in Estremadura is one of the oldest human fossils so far discovered, Homo sapiens sapiens arrived in Portugal in around 35,000 years ago and spread rapidly throughout the country. Pre-Celtic tribes inhabited Portugal leaving a remarkable cultural footprint, the Cynetes developed a written language, leaving many stelae, which are mainly found in the south of Portugal. Early in the first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from Central Europe and intermarried with the populations to form several different ethnic groups. The Celtic presence in Portugal is traceable, in outline, through archaeological

18.
History of San Marino
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The history of San Marino is typical for the Italian Peninsula, and yet helps explain its unusual characteristics as the sole remaining Italian microstate. San Marino is the only surviving Italian microstate, along with Vatican City and Lesotho it is one of the three states surrounded by a single other country. San Marino asserts its independence and various treaties of friendship have been signed with Italy since the latter’s unification, San Marino, the worlds fifth-smallest state, claims to be the worlds oldest surviving republic. There he built a chapel and monastery, later, the State of San Marino would bud from the centre created by this monastery. Living in geographical isolation from the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians at the time and it is certain that the region has been inhabited since prehistoric times, although evidence of the existence of a community on Mount Titano dates back only to the Middle Ages. That evidence comes from a monk named Eugippio, who reports in several documents going back to 511 that another monk lived here. In memory of the stonecutter, the land was renamed Land of San Marino, later papers from the 9th century report a well organized, open and proud community, the writings report that the bishop ruled this territory. In the Lombard age, San Marino was a fief of the dukes of Spoleto, the original government structure was composed of a self-governed assembly known as the Arengo, which consisted of the heads of each family. In 1243, the positions of Captains Regent were established to be the joint heads of state, the states earliest statutes date back to 1263. The Holy See confirmed the independence of San Marino in 1631, in quick succession, the lords of Montefeltro, the Malatesta of Rimini, and the lords of Urbino attempted to conquer the little town, but without success. As a result, Pope Pius II gave San Marino some castles, later that year, the town of Faetano joined the republic on its own accord. Since then, the size of San Marino has remained unchanged, as the political scientist Jorri Duursma notes, San Marino does not have an official Constitution as such. The first legal documents which mentioned San Marinos institutional organs were the Statutes of 1600, popular misunderstanding sometimes credits the country with a written constitution dating from 1600. San Marino faced many potential threats, thus a treaty of protection was signed in 1602 with Pope Clement VIII, which came into force in 1631. San Marino has been occupied by foreign militaries three times in its history, each for only a period of time. Two of these periods were in the feudal era, in 1503, Cesare Borgia occupied the republic until his death several months later. An alliance could have meant the loss of its liberty so a prudent course of action was taken, the Government of San Marino replied that it would do everything possible to fulfil the request, even though, in reality, the bishop was able to flee across the border. A solution was found by one of the Regents, Antonio Onofri, while grateful for the former, the offer of territorial expansion was politely declined by San Marino

19.
History of Scotland
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The History of Scotland is known to have begun by the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,000 years ago. Prehistoric Scotland entered the Neolithic Era about 4000 BC, the Bronze Age about 2000 BC, and the Iron Age around 700 BC. Scotlands recorded history began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in the 1st century, North of this was Caledonia, whose people were known in Latin as Picti, the painted ones. Constant risings forced Romes legions back, Hadrians Wall attempted to seal off the Roman south, the latter was swiftly abandoned and the former overrun, most spectacularly during the Great Conspiracy of the 360s. As Rome finally withdrew from Britain, Gaelic raiders called the Scoti began colonizing Western Scotland, according to 9th- and 10th-century sources, the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata was founded on the west coast of Scotland in the 6th century. In the following century, the Irish missionary Columba founded a monastery on Iona and introduced the previously pagan Scoti, towards the end of the 8th century, the Viking invasions began. Successive defeats by the Norse forced the Picts and Gaels to cease their hostility to each other and to unite in the 9th century. The Kingdom of Scotland was united under the descendants of Kenneth MacAlpin and his descendants, known to modern historians as the House of Alpin, fought among each other during frequent disputed successions. England, under Edward I, would take advantage of the succession in Scotland to launch a series of conquests into Scotland. The resulting Wars of Scottish Independence were fought in the late 13th and early 14th centuries as Scotland passed back, Scotlands ultimate victory in the Wars of Independence under David II confirmed Scotland as a fully independent and sovereign kingdom. When David II died without issue, his nephew Robert II established the House of Stewart, ruling until 1714, Queen Anne was the last Stuart monarch. Since 1714, the succession of the British monarchs of the houses of Hanover and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha has been due to their descent from James VI, during the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Later, its decline following the Second World War was particularly acute. In recent decades Scotland has enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance, fuelled in part by a resurgent financial services sector and the proceeds of North Sea oil and gas. Since the 1950s, nationalism has become a political topic, with serious debates on Scottish independence. People lived in Scotland for at least 8,500 years before Britains recorded history, glaciers then scoured their way across most of Britain, and only after the ice retreated did Scotland again become habitable, around 9600 BC. Mesolithic hunter-gatherer encampments formed the first known settlements, and archaeologists have dated an encampment near Biggar to around 8500 BC, numerous other sites found around Scotland build up a picture of highly mobile boat-using people making tools from bone, stone and antlers. The oldest house for which there is evidence in Britain is the structure of wooden posts found at South Queensferry near the Firth of Forth, dating from the Mesolithic period

20.
History of Sweden
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During the 11th and 12th centuries, Sweden gradually became a unified Christian kingdom that later included what is today Finland. During the early Middle Ages, the Swedish state also expanded to control Norrland and Finland, Modern Sweden started out of the Kalmar Union formed in 1397 and by the unification of the country by King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. Vasa fought for an independent Sweden and broke with the papacy, in the 17th century Sweden expanded its territories to form the Swedish empire. Most of these territories had to be given up during the 18th century. During the 17th century, after winning wars against Denmark, Russia, Swedens role in the Thirty Years War determined the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe. The Russians won a war against Sweden in 1709, capturing much of the Swedish army, Sweden joined in the Enlightenment culture of the day in the arts, architecture, science and learning. Between 1570 and 1800 Sweden experienced two periods of urban expansion, Finland was lost to Russia in a war in 1808–1809. In the early 19th century Finland and the territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost. After its last war in 1814, Sweden entered into a union with Norway which lasted until 1905. Since 1814, Sweden has been at peace, adopting a foreign policy in peacetime. Sweden was neutral in World War I, post-war prosperity provided the foundations for the social welfare policies characteristic of modern Sweden. Sweden created a model of social democracy. Sweden remained neutral during World War II, avoiding the fate of occupied Norway, Sweden was one of the first non-participants of World War II to join the United Nations. Apart from this, the tried to stay out of alliances and remain officially neutral during the entire Cold War. The social democratic party held government for 44 years, the 1976 parliamentary elections brought a liberal/right-wing coalition to power. During the Cold War, Sweden was suspicious of the superpowers, with the end of the Cold War, that suspicion has lessened somewhat, although Sweden still chooses to remain nonaligned. The earliest images can, however, be found in the province of Jämtland and they depict wild animals such as elk, reindeer, bears and seals. The period 2300–500 BC was the most intensive carving period, with carvings of agriculture, warfare, ships, domesticated animals, also, petroglyphs with themes have been found in Bohuslän, these are dated from 800–500 BC

The history of Denmark as a unified kingdom began in the 8th century, but historic documents describe the geographic …

Stone Dolmen near Vinstrup, Nørhald. Built in the 3rd millennium BC.

The famous Trundholm sun chariot (called Solvognen in Danish), a sculpture of the sun pulled by a mare. Scholars have dated it to some time in the 15th century BC and believe that it illustrates an important concept expressed in Nordic Bronze Age mythology.

The silver Gundestrup Cauldron, with what some scholars interpret as Celtic depictions, exemplifies the trade relations of the period.

The extent of the Danish Realm before the expansion of the Viking Age. It is not known when, but the tribal Danes divided the realm into "herreder" (marked by red lines).

The arrival of the Portuguese in Japan, the first Europeans who managed to reach it, initiating the Nanban ("southern barbarian") period of active commercial and cultural exchange between Japan and the West.